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Monday, May 6, 2013

Update- Year Without New Clothes

I have had a few folks email me and ask me about how my year without new clothes is going. You can read about it here and also my second update about it can be found here.

So it is May and I haven't updated. That's because I haven't bought anything new!!
It's actually a very successful feeling. I have never been a "high end " shopper, I never cared for expensive jeans or anything like that. I was frugal even as a kid.

I do have to admit though that it took me a little bit of time to realize that there was such a thing as too many garage sales, too many thrift store finds etc. for a few reasons.

1. Time- it takes time to run all over town to go to garage sales. It takes time to pop into thrift stores. And when you have PLENTY, like we do, I just saw that time that was being spent as precious time that could be spent with my family, at home , around the yard et.

2. Money- Even spending only $20-$30 a week at yard sales adds up to $80-$120 a month. That's a lot of money for items that aren't NEEDED. If you have something specific you want to look for, or something needed it's not a bad deal. But if you are content with what you have that extra money can be saved for something else.

3. Space- This wasn't such an issue with just my husband and I, but now with 3 little ones and a 3 bedroom home all of their stuff is getting to be too much to handle. We have small closets, we have little to no storage, and just trying to keep up with everything became time consuming. Really scaling down what we have makes us feel neater, more organized and gives us a sense of tranquility in the house. Less laundry helps as well.

So with school about over, all the kids really are wearing are flip flops, shorts, summer dresses and big tshirts for night gowns. We have enough of those. And last week I hemmed up two dresses whose hems were falling out, giving us 2 more nice Sunday dresses. I think we are good for now.

We will certainly have to buy more clothes for next school season and into Fall. I'll do that at Rhea Lana's and thrift stores closer to time, but for now we are good.

Hubby and I are good as well. I got an early Mother's Day present ( a beautiful locket) I've been wearing to work that makes me feel like I've updated my outfits.....

2 comments:

Hi Rachel! I got caught up in going to yard sales and found I was accumulating way to much "stuff"! I only go now if I'm looking for something particular. I was also burning a lot of gas, since we live in a rural area and the yard sales were quite a ways off! It's much more economical to go to thrift stores! Low prices, and one-stop shopping! (I don't go to those unless I'm looking for something). Glad you have found that organizing is helping you to feel more peace! Thanks for sharing! Blessings from Bama!

Wow! I'm so impressed by this. I would have a hard time going a year without new clothes and you are doing it for you and your family. Impressive! I know what you mean about lack of space. I need to scale down as well.